BACKGROUND: Asthma is not one disease. Different patients have biochemically distinct phenotypes. SCOPE OF REVIEW: Biomarker analysis was developed to identify inflammation in the asthmatic airway. It has led to a renewed interest in biochemical abnormalities in the asthmatic airway. The biochemical determinants of asthma heterogeneity are many. Examples include ...

SUMMARY AT A GLANCE: This study provided support for an association between gastro-oesophageal reflux and eosinophilic airway inflammation (EAI) and raised the possibility that when exhaled nitric oxide levels are high, concurrent treatment of both entities, rather than corticosteroid therapy for EAI alone, may be required to achieve satisfactory responses ...

BACKGROUND: Classic teaching states that chronic adrenal insufficiency is associated with hyponatremia, hyperkalemia, hypercalcemia, hypoglycemia, and eosinophilia. We hypothesize that these diagnostic markers do not predict relative adrenal insufficiency (RAI) in the critically ill or injured patient. METHODS: Chart review of surgical, trauma, and medical patients admitted over 7 years to ...

Background: Most of the research on atopic dermatitis (AD) has focused on the pathophysiological role of the immune system in AD, and the role of endocrine signals in the pathology of AD has not been explored. Current research has shown a link between the neuroendocrine and immune functions. Aim: The ...

Development of a testicular adrenal rest tumor (TART) is common in males with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and it can be an important cause of infertility. In the present study, we observed the prevalence of TARTs, and analyzed its associated factors in patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Testicular ultrasonography was performed in ...

Primary aldosteronism (PA), an autonomous aldosterone hypersecretion from adrenal adenoma and/or hyperplasia, and subclinical Cushing syndrome (SCS), a mild but autonomous cortisol hypersecretion from adrenal adenoma without signs or symptoms of Cuhing's syndrome, are now well-recognized clinical entities of adrenal incidentaloma. However, the clinicopathological features of PA associated with SCS ...

Context: Primary adrenal insufficiency is usually diagnosed in infancy or adulthood, and cases presenting in childhood have not been systematically reviewed. Objective: Our objective was to determine etiologies, signs, and symptoms of primary adrenal insufficiency presenting in childhood. Design and Setting: We conducted a retrospective chart review at a tertiary-care ...

Isolated adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) deficiency is an extremely rare disease in which ACTH-producing cells of the pituitary gland are selectively damaged. The resulting decline in ACTH production and secretion results in chronic secondary adrenocortical insufficiency. The patient in this case did not present with adrenal insufficiency symptoms prior to surgery. ...

Steroids improve the outcome in alcoholic hepatitis (AH), but up to 40% of patients fail to respond adequately. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) exacerbates steroid resistance in vitro. We performed a prospective study to determine if intrinsic steroid sensitivity correlates with response to steroids in individuals with severe AH and if IL-2 receptor ...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the clinical effect of the universal use of adrenal venous sampling and to investigate the characteristics of patients with primary aldosteronism undergoing laparoscopic adrenalectomy at a single tertiary care center. METHODS: After the screening examination, confirmatory test, and computed tomography (CT) scans were completed, all patients with ...

To evaluate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Consecutive patients with RA, AS, or PsA who attended our outpatient arthritis clinics between July and November 2009 were recruited for a study of atherosclerotic risk factors and the ...

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a common pathology of the oral mucosa with a complex and multifactorial etiology. Tumour Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNFα) is a cytokine with an important but not well-known role in the development of new lesions in RAS patients. Modifications of salivary levels of TNFα in RAS patients ...

New criteria to classify rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been derived in order to increase the specificity and sensitivity for early RA compared with the 1987 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. The aim of this study was to evaluate differences in classification between the 1987 ACR criteria and the 2010 ...

We describe a patient with adrenal phaeochromocytoma who presented with peripheral vasospasm and ischaemia and other manifestations mimicking features of systemic sclerosis, which resolved after resection of the tumor. Phaeochromocytoma should be suspected in patients with features of scleroderma who are negative for auto-antibodies.

Cardiac arrest is often fatal and can be extremely stressful to patients, even if spontaneous rhythm is returned. The purpose of this study was to analyze the hormonal response after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). This is a retrospective review of the chart and laboratory findings in a single medical ...

The risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), and in particular myocardial infarction (MI), is increased amongst patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Few studies have included contemporary patients with RA. We recently reported that the risk of IHD is not elevated before the onset of RA symptoms. However, when, in ...

Survivin belongs to the family of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins and plays an important role in the hyperplastic growth of tissues and tumors. In this study, we assessed the expression of survivin in rheumatoid synovial fluids (SF) and synovial tissues (ST) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in order to investigate ...

During the last decade, rheumatologists have learned to initiate disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) early to improve the outcome of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the effect of delay in assessment by a rheumatologist on the outcome of RA has scarcely been explored. The purpose of this study was to examine the ...

Various factors affect joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The influence of body mass index (BMI) is not adequately known. As BMI is potentially modifiable, we studied its influence on radiological joint damage in patients with RA. Treatment-naive patients with early RA (< 24 mo) were included. Demographic data were ...

To examine predictors of progression of disability in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index (HAQ), and to determine rates of progression during biologic treatment. We followed 18,485 RA patients for up to 11 years (mean 3.7 years) in a longitudinal study of RA outcomes. ...

To identify factors associated with radiographic progression at 52 weeks in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after 12 weeks of methotrexate (MTX) therapy. The study population consisted of patients from the MTX arm of the Trial of Etanercept and Methotrexate with Radiographic Patient Outcomes (TEMPO). Logistic regression analysis was used ...

To investigate the predictive ability of core outcomes applied in RA trials, including ultrasound (US) Doppler (USD) measurements differentiating patients who remain on anti-TNF-α therapy following 1 year. Patients with RA in anti-TNF-α therapy were followed 1 year after therapy initiation. All patients had wrist involvement. At baseline, 2 weeks, ...

Approximately one-third of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are seronegative for the 2 serological RA markers, rheumatoid factor (RF) and antibodies against cyclic citrullinated peptides (ACCP). Moreover, the sensitivities of both markers are lower in the diagnostically important early disease phase. The aim of this study was to identify additional autoantibody markers ...

Infusion reaction is a major adverse event in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with infliximab. The possible factors including Fcγ receptor (FcγR) polymorphism associated with the development of infusion reactions in patients with RA receiving infliximab were prospectively examined. 96 patients with RA were enrolled and scheduled to receive ...

We determined rates and predictors of future development of fibromyalgia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). After excluding patients with fibromyalgia and those with high levels of fibromyalgia symptoms (fibromyalgianess score>10) at baseline, we studied fibromyalgia development in 9739 RA patients during 42,591 patient-years of follow-up. We defined fibromyalgia using ...

Most patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) are first treated by total thyroidectomy followed by remnant ablation (RA) with (131)I. There are less data regarding the efficacy of recombinant human thyrotropin (rhTSH) for patients with WDTC at high risk of relapse than for low-risk patients. This study compared the efficacies ...

Increases in local and systemic bone resorption are hallmarks of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Osteoclasts are implicated in these processes and their enhanced differentiation may contribute to bone destruction. We observed that in vitro osteoclastogenesis varies among healthy individuals and hypothesized that increased osteoclastogenesis could be a marker for the presence ...

25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-OH-D) insufficiency/deficiency is increasingly prevalent and has been associated with many chronic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our purpose was to define the prevalence and associations of 25-OH-D insufficiency/deficiency in a cohort of US veterans with RA. vitamin D status (25-OH-D) was assessed in patients with RA using ...

To evaluate the relative level of influence of usual investigations in early arthritis on the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). those included in the ESPOIR early arthritis cohort, a national cohort of patients with grade ≥ 2 synovitis for > 6 weeks and < 6 months. The diagnostic properties of ...

to examine whether patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with no overt cardiovascular disease (CVD) have a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) than subjects without RA or CVD. We also examined whether RA disease characteristics are associated with the presence of MetS in RA patients without CVD. subjects from a ...

To compare the distribution of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) class I and II alleles in patients with erosive hand osteoarthritis (EHOA) to that of patients with non-erosive hand OA (non-EHOA) and in healthy Italian Bone Marrow Donors (IBMDs), in order to evaluate possible immunogenetic associations with EHOA. In the EHOA ...

To assess whether there is a statistically significant difference in the frequency of common MEFV allele variants in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) as compared with control patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and with healthy control subjects. Sixty-two patients with AS, 50 healthy control subjects, and 46 patients with RA ...

To test the hypothesis that oxidative stress is increased in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) due to increased inflammation and contributes to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The independent association between urinary F₂-isoprostane excretion, a measure of oxidative stress, and RA was tested using multiple linear regression models in 169 patients ...

The outcome and cause of death of each lung disease directly associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA-LD) have been poorly investigated. A retrospective study was conducted of 144 patients with RA-LD, in whom the median follow-up period after the initial visit for a respiratory examination was 4.5 yrs. A total of ...

Objectives. Documentation on secondary prevention with statins in RA patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) is limited, despite the increased risk of CHD in RA. Our objective was to describe the effect of statin treatment on lipid levels and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events in patients with RA who participated in ...

PTPN22 (protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 22) 1858C>T single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is one of the genetic risk factors of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, its role in the response of RA patients to therapy is not known. We examined a possible association of this SNP with a response of RA patients ...

The goal of this study is to determine and compare the β-endorphin levels in the synovial fluid of patients with different joint disorders (avascular necrosis, AVN; osteoarthritis, OA; and rheumatoid arthritis, RA of the hip or knee). Eighty-seven patients were involved in our study with an average age of 62 years. ...

To compare disease activity, radiographic features, and bone density in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) matched cohorts. Disease activity and radiographic data in the Consortium of Rheumatology Researchers of North America database from 2001 to 2008 were compared for 2481 patients with PsA and 17,107 patients with RA ...